Like every trainer based in the Top End right now, Gary Clarke is eyeing the Darwin Cup Carnival.
The racing extravaganza, which accommodates eight meetings at Fannie Bay, starts next Saturday and culminates with the $200,000 Darwin Cup (2050m) on August 7.
Clarke and fellow trainers complete their preparations on Saturday when the Darwin Turf Club hosts ‘Day Zero’ – the traditional meeting before Cup Carnival where the feature is the $30,000 ROANT Gold Cup (1300m).
It was rare for Clarke, who is set to seal the Top End trainers’ premiership for an 11th-straight year, to not get a winner last weekend and he will have three runners in the ROANT Gold Cup – Siakam, Wolfburn and Vallabar.
Siakam, a five-year-old gelding, has won six of his past 11 starts at Fannie Bay, including victory in the St Patrick’s Day Cup (1600m) in March and the Adelaide River Cup (1600m) on June 3.
Wolfburn, a four-year-old gelding, won the Darwin Guineas (1600m) and finished second in the NT Derby (2050m) last year, and saluted over 1300m (0-70) when he made his Top End return from South Australia two weeks ago.
Vallabar, a seven-year-old rig, is back from Tasmania having finished fourth in the Buntine Handicap (2050m) and third in the Darwin Cup last year before winning the Katherine Cup (1700m) in mid-August.
It’s a strong ROANT Gold Cup field, which includes defending champion Masterati, Alice Springs Cup winner Write Your Name, 2021 NT Derby winner Sanblas, and the well-credentialled Noir De Rue.
“I suppose they’re three horses where the Darwin Cup is maybe their end goal, but a couple of them are also eligible for other feature races such as the Toyota Cup,” Clarke said.
“Wolfburn and Vallabar are nice horses, but would definitely have to win a couple of qualifiers to get a Darwin Cup run.
“Vallabar proved himself last year and I guess Wolfburn did too, but he was only against three-year-olds and he’s spelled and come back quite good – I like him.
“Siakam, we keep putting hurdles in front of him and he keeps jumping them, he’s done nothing wrong.
“He’s just climbed the ladder, he’s up in the mid 80s now with his rating – so he deserves a shot at some of the better races.
“He’s just lapped up the challenge every time and who knows, he might end up in the Darwin Cup as well.”
Speaking of the Darwin Cup, Clarke won it last year with Playoffs when leading Victorian trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace sent the horse north.
2022 Darwin Cup replay
Winner: Playoffs
“I’ve once again got a couple of Cup horses that Ciaron and David sent up – really good horses that have lost their way,” Clarke said.
“One is Grandslam, he’s won at Group 2 level, and the other is Thought Of That – they’re both highly rated horses.
“I’ll probably step them off in the Chief Minister’s Cup (1600m), but I’m hoping that they take to our style of racing because they’re really nice horses.
“I’ve had them here for a bit, I trialled them a couple of weeks ago.
“Both indicated that they’re ready for the mile – that’s why I elected not to run them in the 1300m on Saturday because it would probably do them more harm than good.
“Getting back and getting covered with dirt – that would knock their confidence around a bit.”
The speedsters will also be in action on Saturday over 1000m (0-76) as they prepare for the $135,000 Palmerston Sprint (1200m) – a race Clarke won last year with Syncline.
2022 Palmerston Sprint replay
Winner: Syncline
One of the trainer’s starters this weekend is Rising Sphere, who won two races during the Cup Carnival last year before two thirds in the spring.
He returned to the track on June 3 and prevailed by three lengths over 1000m (0-70).
The five-year-old gelding will have his hands full containing Ideas Man, who won the corresponding race last year, Niewand, Kerioth, Stage Front, I’m A Legend and Munster.
“He was impressive in his first run back and there were quite a few fast horses in that race,” Clarke said.
“He made short work of them – he was a little bit slow out of the gates, but it took him about 100m to muster before hitting the front and it was all over from there.
“We’ve tagged him this preparation for the Palmerston.
“It’s a good field this weekend and that’s to be expected as the best of the best are going to be stepping out in the next couple of weeks, so there will be no side-stepping them.
“If Rising Sphere’s good enough to go into a Palmerston, he’s going to have to race against those horses.
“The sprinters have been a little light up until now, but everybody seems to have brought out the big guns this weekend and I’m sure it’s not going to be easy going forward.”
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